lagovslaitTell them apart

Quick tell: lago is a adverb, lait is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lago” is an adverb and “lait” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#49,759
“lago” frequency rank
#2,043
“lait” frequency rank
51802
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lago lait
Definition Là. Liquide produit par les glandes mammaires des femelles de mammifères pendant la période de lactation qui suit la parturition, et destiné à nourrir les bébés lors de l’allaitement.

Where the eye mixes lago and lait

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. lago (CVCV) and lait (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
lago
4 ch
lait

Visual trap between lago and lait

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lago is \la.ɡo\ while lait is \lɛ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51802, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lago is recorded at frequency rank #49,759, classified as anadv, pronounced \la.ɡo\. lait is at rank #2,043, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɛ\.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 51802, this pair ranks #152,367 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lago vs lait

Shared letters: al. Private to "lago": go. Private to "lait": it.

"lago" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "lait" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lago ← algo · laggo · laog · lgao · llago
  • lait ← alit · laitt · lati · liat · llait

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lago" and "lait" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lago" is an adverb and "lait" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "lago" vs "lait" - which ranks higher?
"lait" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,043 in our French list, against #49,759 for "lago". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lago" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #152,367 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lago" and "lait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lago vs longo". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #152,367 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list